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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

POPLARVILLE – Pearl River Community College student Sarah Bienvenu is not sure how she was going to pay for college this year if she had not won the 2013 Tuition Giveaway contest.

Bienvenu, 20, a 2011 Pearl River Central honors graduate, says the money contributed to her education will not be wasted.

“All of my family members encouraged me to enter the contest,” said Bienvenu. “I went out on a limb and wrote some stuff about myself. It really is a blessing.”

Bienvenu was recently selected as the winner of the third annual Tuition Giveaway contest, a promotion PRCC held in conjunction with Hattiesburg Coca-Cola and radio stations SL-100 and Wild 106.3.

Live radio promotions, featuring free soft drinks and t-shirts, were held to advertise the contest in Hattiesburg, Oak Grove, Petal, Purvis, Sumrall, Columbia and Poplarville.

Contestants had to tell their story through online submissions.

We had many student applicants who have had to overcome challenges and adversities, said Chuck Abadie, public relations director at PRCC. We had more than 140 submissions. Picking a winner was very difficult.

Bienvenu, the daughter of Bobby Bienvenu and Robin Koval of Picayune, is a student in the Medical Radiologic Technology program at PRCC. She will be a commuting student this fall at the Forrest County Center in Hattiesburg.

“It really is hard having to go back and forth to school every day for class with the cost of gas,” said Bienvenu. “This will really help a lot. I am not sure I could do it without this help.”

A portion of her submission included the following:

“I am a go getter when it comes to life. I always put my best foot forward when it comes to my dreams. I won’t compromise…

“If I receive this money, I would be so thankful to be chosen, and so blessed to have such an opportunity. Money is a big concern for college students, but I won’t let that discourage me. I will do what it takes to earn my degree to help diagnose and treat diseases that doctors couldn’t see without the use of radiographs.”

Russ Hendley, Division Vice-President for Hattiesburg Coca-Cola, said he was thrilled with Bienvenu’s selection. It's great when you do a promotion and the winner is so grateful and deserving. Her story was so moving.

The 2011 winner was Kendall Laster of Hattiesburg. The 2012 winner was Amanda Blount of Hattiesburg.PHOTO CAPTION:HATTIESBURG - Pearl River Community College student Sarah Bienvenu of Carriere was selected as the winner of the third annual Tuition Giveaway contest, a promotion PRCC held in conjunction with Hattiesburg Coca-Cola and radio stations SL-100 and Wild 106.3. Pictured at the awards ceremony are from left: Jeff Bryant of Hattiesburg Coca-Cola, Vickie Wilberding of Clear Channel Radio, Russ Hendley of Hattiesburg Coca-Cola, SL-100 radio personality Shaggy, Candace Harper, Pearl River Community College alumni coordinator; Bienvenu, WILD 106 radio personality Big Daddy, Martin's IGA/Sunflower manager Keelan Jones, Kim Brown and Russell Boltz, both of Hattiesburg Coca-Cola.PRCC Public Relations photo

POPLARVILLE—Healthy People Now! Productions is announcing a casting call for a number of short films currently in pre-production. Healthy People Now! Productions (HPN!), a consortium of the Pearl River Community College Office of Public Relations, Department of Nursing Education, Honors Institute and PRCC Film Productions, scripts and films health-related shorts (10 to 20-min. in length) dealing with psycho-social issues as brought about by natural and man-made disasters, family trauma, abuse, bullying and other related stressors and delivers these instructional and factual films on the Internet. With almost 16,000 hits to the HPN! youtube site, the program has grown from school placement to reaching thousands of students each year through a combination of delivery systems.Actors are not paid, but they will receive listing in the credits. The actor will be on a professional working film set with a dedicated crew of students learning film production. Some Healthy People Now! productions are currently listed on IMDb.com, the Internet movie database (See: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3655475 for a complete listing).This program will be casting for students and adults of both genders ages 6 years and up and is looking for both actors and voice talent. The call will take place by appointment from 2-8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. Actors are requested to bring a head shot if they have one. Walk-ins are welcome but are not guaranteed an audition. HPN! is looking for all genders, ethnicities, and body types.Actors who have previously auditioned for Healthy People Now! but have not acted in an HPN! production for more than two years will need to update their audition. HPN! will accept an updated head shot and an updated audition tape. Any actors who are not able to make this audition, may make and send an audition tape. Actors will be casting for three HPN! Productions and one PRCC film production class project. The projects include “Evermore,” “Pardon My Smoke,” “15,” and “The Cutters Club.” The PRCC film production class project is casting an adult male (55 and up) and two boys around 11 years old for the narration sequence of a feature-length documentary, “The Road Less Traveled.” Actors need to be able to commit lengthy dialog passages to memory for this role.For more information or to set an audition appointment, call Ronn Hague, 601-403-1316 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Leave a message if no answer. For questions, email rhague@prcc.edu.